Novel Developments in ATP Bioluminescence

Several industrial applications of ATP bioluminescence have been developed since the late 1970's. These have largely been non-specific applications, primarily for the direct, objective assessment of cleaning verification and also as a gross monitor of microbial biomass. Significant developments have been made, particularly over the past ten years. This article describes the most recent developments in reagents and instrumentation leading to the first specific test application for the detection of low numbers of pathogenic and indicator organisms within a working day.